Relationships Articles

Florida is known as the sunshine state. The weather is always great.

Certainly that is one of the many reasons brides flock to Florida to get married. Saying “I do.” in the sunshine is always a good time. The venue options are countless and there are many wedding service professionals to make your ceremony perfect.

As a native Floridian with a particular fascination for the state, here are some personal favorites where you could have your wedding.

1. Sea World’s Discovery Cove, Orlando, Orange County

2. St. Augustine and Anastasia Island, Flagler County

3. Don Cesar Beach Resort, St. Petersburg Beach, Pinellas County

4. Pensacola Beach, Emerald Coast, Santa Rosa County

5. Cocoa Beach (near Patrick’s Airforce Base), Brevard County

6. Gaylord Palms Hotel, Orlando, Orange County

7. Portofino Bay Hotel, Orlando, Orange County

8. Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Orlando, Orange County

9. Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle, Orlando, Orange County

10. The Atlantic Oceanfront Boutique hotel, Ft. Lauderdale, Broward County

11. Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables, Miami-Dade county

12. The Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes, Orlando, Orange County

13. Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, Orlando, Orange County

14. Omni Resort at Champions Gate, Orlando, Orange County

15. Renaissance Vinoy Resort and Golf Club, St. Petersburg, Pinellas County

These above are just a few of the remarkable options available. Depending upon your budget there are many more places I could recommend.

Do yourself a favor and find a wedding minister who is fun, personal, and professional. The spirit of the ceremony is most attributed to the orator directing and officiating. Get your officiant to tailor make and personalize your ceremony according to your preferences. Don’t settle for anything less. When you get married, get a minister who will give you what you like best.

Spring is about renewal and rebirth; your wedding is about love bursting into flower and transforming your life. When you’re celebrating your love and promising one another forever in your wedding ceremony and wedding vows, why not use your wedding foods to continue and deepen the metaphor?

All winter long, you’ve been nourishing yourselves and your souls with foods that keep and that keep you warm. Spring foods are about abundance and are only good when they’re consumed in season. You don’t can or save most of them, you savor them right then and there and remember their beauty for the next year. When you do it all over again. That’s a great metaphor for your marriage. It’s important to have rituals and reminders that love renews itself. Celebrate the season at your reception, but talk about those foods during the wedding ceremony so that people understand why they’re eating what they’re eating. The more ties you make to the things you do at your wedding, the more you will be reminded of those things at throughout your marriage. You’ll remember your wedding vows every time you eat fresh asparagus if you’ve made that connection during the ceremony. Be married in the spring and celebrate life and love’s bounty!

The thing about all these flavors is that many are delicate and should not be overwhelmed or over combined. Savor. Savor the tenderness, both in your food and in your marriage!

1. Herbs: they’re back! Basil is a queen among the spring herbs but if you have a protected spot many herbs will push their heads up in celebration of the sunshine.
2. Spices: these spices will not overwhelm the subtle tastes of spring. Try these (in small doses of course) as the perfect compliment to spring flavors: Cardamom, cloves and vanilla, saffron, cumin, young ginger and young chili peppers.
3. Greens: at last! Watercress, collards, dandelions, spinach and lettuces. This is a taste I long for all winter. Many of them are a bit sharp and spicy. And isn’t love? Would we want love if it only ever tasted like sweet bib lettuce?
4. Fleeting Vegetables: Fiddlehead ferns, baby asparagus and spring onions. Yum. Love is elusive. So is great food. But every once in a while, everything comes together.
5. Fruits: There are not a lot at this time of year. And in fact this first one is really a vegetable. But oh, it tastes like a fruit! Rhubarb. Tart and tangy. Lemons and Limes can be used to delicately augment other sweets and renew the hope of spring.
6. Eggs: Whether hard-boiled and dyed in a frivolous spring color or served warm and runny on your salad, eggs represent new life. So do weddings.
7. Other Protein: This is the season of wild salmon and trout and lamb. If you’re a fish or meat eater these might be good choices. If you’re not, I’d do something fun with eggs! Or just stick with the green(ish) stuff up above!

The food should be great at every wedding. It doesn’t need to be fancy, but it should be good! Spring is one season that you want to take advantage of the bounty because it fits so well with the bounty that love has introduced into your life!

1. Invitations

Ask your stationer about green options including using tree-free, recycled and recyclable paper and vegetable oil based inks.

2. Out of town guests

Calculate the mileage your guests will travel and donate to a clean energy or reforestation project that balances out the environmental impact of your travel.

3. Transportation

Have the ceremony and the reception at the same location, eliminating the need for a large group of people to travel from one place to another. If the ceremony must be in a different spot, hire a bus to bring everyone to the reception together.

4. Ceremony

Consider having your celebration outdoors. The more beautiful the natural environment, the less you’ll need to spend on decorations!

5. Flowers

Try to use flowers that have been organically, locally grown.

6. Food

Hire a caterer who specializes in locally grown ingredients. Also ask about regional, organic wines and locally brewed beer.

7. Reception venue

Ask your reception manager about their green policies. Many venues are up to date on reducing and recycling programs.

8. Wedding party fashions

Try to choose styles that everyone agrees they’ll want to wear again and again. Consider donating your bridal gown to a clothing charity.

9. Keepsakes for guests

Give every guest a tree seedling or a packet of wild flower seeds.

10. Wedding website

Share your enthusiasm for having a green wedding with family and friends. You’ll be encouraging them to go green themselves. Every little bit of knowledge about how to help the environment helps everyone be more active about making a difference.

Without a doubt silk is one of the best and most important fabrics in the design of wedding gowns. It is a natural protein fiber which can be woven into textiles and is obtained by the larva of the mulberry worm. The wonderful thing about silk is the fact that it gives off a shimmering effect due to the fiber’s triangular, prism-like structure which allows this fabric to refract incoming light at different angles.

This great beauty when combined with its natural strength makes silk a legend of sorts in cultures worldwide. Much more than the fabric that you want your wedding gown to be designed from, its significance to world history can’t be denied and only means that your wedding dress is made not only from an exceedingly beautiful textile but also one that is respected worldwide.

The Ancient Chinese are the ones primarily credited with developing silk into a fabric perhaps as early as 6000 BC. They were usually reserved for Chinese royalty because of all its fine qualities. It was such a valuable item that the earliest evidence of it being traded was its presence in an Egyptian mummy from 1070 BC. It reached Korea in 200 BC and by 300 AD, India was into the act as well.

In ‘The Odyssey’ it is said that Odysseus wore a shirt of silk. And it is sure that the Roman Empire knew of and traded in silk. Even the Emperor Justinian I smuggled silkworms into Constantinople from China to learn the secrets of its production. The fabric was made into imperial garments and gifts to foreign dignitaries. Later on the Venetian merchants did much of their commerce with textiles like silk and the centers of Florence and Lucca were built mostly on silk and other textiles. The popularity of silk reached a fever pitch and soon the most powerful countries in Europe were all dealing in it.

So remember that your silk gown has undergone thousands upon thousands of years of evolution to reach the level of perfection that it now has.

Packing for a trip is a huge feat for men and women alike, but it is more often women who tend to pack almost all of their belongings into multiple suitcases with the idea that they will decide what to wear when they reach their destination. Having so many clothes to choose from only adds to confusion and indecision when it is time to dress for a meeting or a night out on the town. It is even more important to avoid stress on your honeymoon. This situation can be avoided, however, by following a few simple rules.

First things first - Check the weather and the itinerary at your destination, so you can plan your outfits ahead of time. Chances are that you already know most of your honeymoon plans, so take advantage of it, and save yourself some stress at the same time! When choosing your outfits try to mix and match as much as possible. You will be amazed at how easy it is to get dressed when you have it all planned out ahead of time!

The easiest pieces to mix and match with are “neutral” bottoms. A neutral color can be any of the following - black, tan, white, khaki, navy, gray, and denim. Whether it be in the form of accessories, shoes, or a top, adding color to neutrals will make you honeymoon ready. Choose a neutral color or two and pack several different bottoms in those neutrals, such as a skirt, shorts, and pants, and throw in some colorful tops, jackets, accessories, and shoes and you are set! You will be able to mix and match to create a new outfit every day from only a few basic pieces.

After you’ve checked your itinerary and have decided what you will pack to wear, it’s time to make sure all your laundry is done. Start laundering your clothing the week before you will be leaving so everything will be clean and ready for packing. This theory also applies to anything that needs to be dry cleaned. Go ahead and get all dry cleaning completed before starting the packing process.

There is a little trick to packing without wrinkling your clothing - it’s called “rolling.” Folding causes creases in your clothing, but rolling does not. The trick to getting the perfect “roll” is to start with a smooth, wrinkle-free garment. If you roll up a wrinkled shirt, it will, of course, remain wrinkled, thus defeating the whole purpose. Another advantage of rolling is that it saves more space than folding does. You will be able to fit more into your suitcase by rolling. Don’t be afraid to tightly pack rolled clothing.

Here are a few more packing tips to follow:

Pack your suitcase with the heavier items on the bottom.

Avoid taking clothing that you haven’t yet worn. You may not like the outfit as much as you thought you would

If you plan on doing some shopping while on your honeymoon, pack an extra carry on bag or leave a little extra room in your suitcase.

Stuff your underwear and socks into shoes and other empty spaces.

Wrap any belts you are bringing around the perimeter of the suitcase.

Find travel size items of your most used (and bulky) items, such as shampoo, conditioner, hairspray, shaving cream, and deodorant.

Tuck some safety pins and stain remover pads or pen into your bag for unexpected emergencies.

Take a small travel candle or room spray (or both) to make stuffy rooms more palatable and to keep the bathroom “fresh.” Don’t let odors ruin a romantic mood. Incidentally, a small cologne spray in a fragrance that you are not wearing can be a great room freshener. Just use it sparingly!

If possible, take only one pair of shoes for cocktails or dinner and coordinate outfits around the shoes.

Do the same for beach shoes and comfortable shoes for shopping or sightseeing trips. Footwear can take up too much space in the suitcase, so taking a pair for every possible outfit is unwise.

If plans include snow-skiing, consider shipping the bulky gear and clothing to the hotel or condo ahead of time and taking only essentials in easy- to -carry luggage when flying. Of course, you would need to call your place of lodging and make arrangements with the concierge before you ship. Doing so will increase the chances that your belongings will remain secure until your arrival.

Having a successful trip really depends on how well you PLAN before you pack!!

Nowhere but in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia will you find more diversity in people, environment, and beauty. The Virginia Beach area is active and alive with an athletic population, Norfolk provides the region with artistic and cultural centers, Hampton is steeped in urban history, and Williamsburg lends a touch of patriotic pride in its preservation of Virginia history. Stepping from town to town, the differences are simple to spot, yet for all the differences in each township it is clear they share one thing common: each Tidewater town offers a beautiful backdrop for a wedding. Here now are five such locales any Hampton Roads couple should consider when planning their special day.

Norfolk - The Chrysler Museum: Patrons enjoy the permanent collection of paintings and ancient sculpture and the fascinating exhibits by popular modern and contemporary artists, but did you know you could rent the entire musuem for special occasions? The gracious Florentine style of the inner courtyard and the elegant gardens bordering the outside of the building offer ample photo opportunities for the wedding party and guests.

Virginia Beach - Cavalier on the Hill: Before the sprawl of chain hotels along the Oceanfront, the Cavalier was the place to stay at the beach. Today, one can still experience the glory of this late 20s resort hotel with a dazzling wedding reception in the grand ballroom.

Hampton - Virginia Air and Space Center: A wedding at a science museum? Believe it or not, this popular Hampton attraction prides itself on catering weddings that are literally out of this world. What could be better for bride and groom space enthusiasts to have their wedding photo taken on the surface of the moon…or a reasonable fascimile?

Williamsburg - Williamsburg Inn: Situated in the heart of Colonial Williamsburg, this elegant inn hearkens back to days of colonial beauty and majesty. Its beautifully appointed courtyards and rooms are ideal for a wedding and sit-down dinner reception.

Williamsburg - The Wren Chapel at The College of William and Mary: One can only imagine how many important historical figures graced this stately on-campus landmark. Used for weddings and various ceremonies in the past, the Wren Chapel is still available for services upon request. Couples with a significant tie to one of the nation’s oldest colleges or colonial history may want to consider an intimate ceremony here.

The natural beauty of the beach, the noble aura of our founding fathers and mothers, the mystery of worlds unknown…diverse wedding locales in the diverse community of Hampton Roads make this part of Virginia an exceptional place to enjoy a wedding. - Kathryn Lively

With all the hustle and bustle that goes into wedding planning, the guest list seems to be the first thing to wheel out of control. And before you know it, you’re intimate ceremony of 50 guests has now turned into a crowd that could easily compete with all the painted faces and torsos of Super Bowl XLIII!

Don’t let this happen. When planning a wedding, it is important to remember one key fact: it is YOUR wedding. You don’t have to be a Bridezilla to plan a wedding day celebration that will be enjoyed to the fullest by you and yours, but you should also take charge in setting limits. Essentially a wedding guest list is bringing two sets of family and friends together and making one big happy bunch. And while some people want to include everyone, embracing a long list of after-school-bosses and favorite lunch ladies; others are happy with a close knit group of their favorite people.

But like most things in life, weddings provide a setting where adding on is much easier than subtracting off. Many brides fall under the trap of, “if I include person A, I have to include person B. And if person B is invited, then I have to invite X,Y,X.” Just remember that locating limits and finding a compromise will leave both your sanity and your budget in a much better place. Be sure to listen to your fiance, and if you have parent’s or grandparent’s helping with the finances, be sure to keep their means in mind as well.

Every dad across the globe can relate to Steve Martin’s character, Frank Banks, in Father of the Bride when he goes light headed over all the returned RSVP’s. And no bride wants to send their dad to jail because he’s caught cutting out hot dog buns at the local grocery store to save money.

In the end, it is a celebration that’s all about your love. So be sure to include all the people that have helped you develop that love and hold a special place in your heart without going overboard. Let your guest list flourish with people that you’ll be able to look at fondly on your 50th wedding anniversary, and remember not only who they are, but why you needed them there.

Wedding ceremonies are designed to unite a couple in marriage. The goal of a good wedding ceremony is to provide a foundation for life-long marriage. But wedding ceremonies can do a lot more than that. If done effectively, they can perform other tasks as well — tasks that are increasingly important in our world of scattered communities:

• They gather us as community. This is key to communities whose members live scattered across the country and across the world. Communities need to make history with one another if they are to be communities. Social media is an important source of communication these days, but even there, our children can’t go on a picnic together. Mostly, you need to gather to make memories.
• They remind us of the importance of family and community connections. There are people from my past, who were at my wedding, who knew me “back in the day.” When people meet me now, they don’t automatically think, wow, small town girl. They may not know how family connections matter to me. They’d probably never guess I like swimming in rivers and lakes. They don’t know how very much I look like my father and act like my mother. Our individual histories and our communal histories overlap. The more we know about our friends and family, the better we can support them.
• They deepen those connections. Weddings are opportunities for everyone, not just the bride and groom, to create memories and connections. Don’t you remember an older cousin who taught you how to be cool at a family gathering? Or an aunt or uncle who spent time asking you questions about yourself? Can’t you still meet a best friend’s best friend from childhood at a wedding and find yourself with a brand new buddy? Creating stories and memories help us bond together when there are challenges to be met. It helps us be clear where we can turn for support and comfort.
• And, most importantly, they remind us of the importance of Love and Commitment in our lives. This is key. Here’s a profound truth. No one, anywhere, gets bigger or stronger or greater from fear. Love gives us courage and dares to do things we can never imagine when we are afraid. Holding your hand and knowing you are there to catch me when I fall or chuckle over the adventure makes me far braver than I would ever be on my own. Every time we hear a couple’s wedding vows we hear the echoes of promises we have made to ourselves, our partners, our families, our talents and can recommit to a richer, better, sweeter life.

So, brides and grooms, as you plan your wedding ceremony, your wedding day and your wedding weekend, remember what a present you can give your community with your wedding. And then give abundantly and reap the rewards!

You can look fabulous at your daughter’s wedding in a discount mother of the bride dress. There’s no need to spend a lot of money on an expensive dress if you don’t have to. With a little time, consideration and effort spent on the shopping process, you can find a discount mother of the bride dress that will make you feel just as wonderful and accomplished as it will make you look.

The quest for a discount mother of the bride dress that looks elegant and classy, not cheap, begins with the consideration of the type or style of dress you want to wear to your daughter’s wedding. You’ll have a good idea of the degree of formality required by the dress your daughter chooses for herself. You’ll want to match the feel of it, the degree of formality, tradition or casualness that her dress displays, as that will set the tone of the whole wedding ceremony.

The general rule of thumb that you’ll want to bear in mind as you search for a discount mother of the bride dress of the best quality possible, it that your best bet will always be classic styles and lines. This is true for a variety of reasons.

First, fads come and go very quickly. A discount mother of the bride dress from last season in a faddish style that was a delight last year could very well look tacky this year. It is not only the design or cut of a dress that can be faddish. We’ve all seen color fads pass before our eyes. And, how could we ever forget the shoulder pad insanity we’ve witnessed periodically through the years?

Second, there is a reason that classic looks and lines are classic. They got it right the first time. It’s hard to improve on perfection. Classic styles may undergo slight changes through the years to update the general look, different types or sizes of buttons and other decorative details, but the basic line does not change substantially. That means that you can buy a discount mother of the bride dress in a classic style from last season or further back and it will still be fashionable today.

You may choose to visit the fabric store and pick up a few notions, buttons, decorative edging and the like, and invest a bit of time in updating the details of your discount mother of the bride dress, bring it up to the very latest of fashion. However, in all probability, if you choose well, you may not even have to do that. Classic lines are meant to be able to be used again and again, which is why clothing of this sort is usually put together well, with quality materials, sturdy stitching and a special attention to stress points and details.

A discount mother of the bride dress never has to look cheap. By taking your time and choosing well, you can find a classically beautiful dress that will make you look lovely and feel accomplished.

Considering incorporating a theme into your wedding but are concerned over how time consuming or more expensive having a theme may be? Don’t despair, having a theme wedding is easier than you think.

Where to start - The theme should suit both you and your fiancé. Think about what you do together in your spare time. Are you into literature? Do you love to travel or go to the movies? Follow the NASCAR circuit? Even the season when you’re getting married can suggest a theme. After you’ve chosen a theme, think about how much you want to incorporate it into your ceremony and reception.

Having a theme wedding doesn’t necessarily equate to being more expensive. The different elements which go into a wedding - ie. favors, centerpieces, music, cake - are present regardless of whether or not there is a theme. Decide if you want to go subtle with just a few theme-related elements, or go all out. Into literature? Select a beautiful love poem (you can’t go wrong with Browning, Barrett or Shakespeare), for your ceremony reading. Give bookmarks as favors. If you love to travel, instead of using numbers, name each guest table after a different location you’ve visited, or plan to visit. For a sea/beach theme, forgo the mints wrapped in tulle by treating your guests to chocolates shaped like seashells. (For the budget-minded, use do-it-yourself candy molds and prepackaged candy mixes). For an Autumn Harvest theme, decorate with bowls of apples, stalks of corn, pumpkins, gourds and pressed leaves.

What remains after the wedding day are the memories, and the photos and video when those memories begin to fade. However because of having a theme, memories will fade slower because of the uniqueness. Your guests tend to remember something for a longer period of time if there is something different about it. After the planning is done and your wedding day comes together, your guests will be delighted at taking part is something different, yet very much reflects you and your groom.